The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-23
DODGE ON THE DEFENSIVE
HE DENIES THAT HIS FIGURES
WILLFULLY FALSIFIED.

port-The Tobacconists Declare Their
Statistics Absolutely Correct.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 32.-A dozen gentle
men, constituting Committee of the West
ern and Southern tobacco men, called by APP
pointment upon the Commissioner of Agri-
culture this forenoon, and laid before him
their grievances i'll connection with the re-
cent report of Statistician J. II. Dodge upon
the acreage of tobacco planted this year, bys
which, it is claimed, that the tobacco inter
est suffered grievous loss. Ex-Congressman
Willis of Louisville, addressed the Commits
sioner, setting forth in general terms the
claimed inaccuracies of the report, consist
ing in the alleged erroneous overestimate of
the acreage.
Commissioner Coleman replied warmly
tician, describing the . great great weight
given to his publications by reason
of their uniform accuracy during
his course of twenty years connection with
the work, and repudiating most earnestly
and vigorously any suspicion that improper
influences could attach to him. A mistake
might have been made in this instance If
So an investigation would develop the facts;
but should there prove to have been one, he
felt convinced it would be found to be of the
head alone.
MIR. DODGE CALLED IN.
Henry Glover, of Louisville. chairman of
the committee briefly set forth the grounds
of the knowledge of the committee and of
tobacco men generally, that the report of
the department stated the acreage enor-
mouSly in excess of the facts and aske1 to be
allowed to know what grounds the statisti-
a,o hnl
that Mr. Dodge be present during the further
discussion of the matter, and that the re-
turns of the department in this regard be
submitted to the committee. To these re-
quests the commissioner acceded. Mr..
Dodge was sent for, and in reply to the in
quiries of the committee read an exhaustive
formal statement He said he welcomed
the inquiry concerning the truth of the sta
tistics, for he assumed that the visit of the
committee was solely in the interest of ac
curacy and the public welfare in crop re-
porting.
NO DISHONEST MOTIVE.
In the outset he would say that the whis-
pered insinuations of influence on the part
OF the Commissioner of Agriculture, from
personal and unusual Considerations in
shaping the estimate, was unjust and cruel.
The Commissioner was not only far away
and without any communication in this
case, but he never attempted, in the
slightest degree, to modify crop re-
porting results for any purpose.
Mr. Dodge said he was arraigned in obedi-
ence to popular clamor charged with max
ing estimates in certain Western States
smaller than had been made for years, but
yet too large to suit the. present views of the
committee and It's clients. He was charged
with making such estimates without a scrap
of information on the subject from any
quarter. He had overwhelming data which
must be satisfactory to the committee for
the disproval of such charges.
HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DROUGHT.
Really the charge of high estimates was
an afterthought. Virtually he was held re-
sponsible for the effects of the droughts of
which he had no knowledge whatever until
nearly month after the original returns
of the acreage were made He could fur
nish authority for the estimate and could
show that the acreage was
not the area growing and to
which the tobacco men now refer He had
early learned that the comparative acreage
was never fully reported, and in tobacco
which is heavily taxed the failure is most
conspicuous For example, the cotton
acreage, now assumed to be $4,000, 600
would have been scarcely 100000 if the
returns had been accepted without revision,
between 1870 and 1850. The extraordinary
underestimate of tobacco attracted his at
tention, and became a source of anxiety.
CENSUS sHowINGs.
The census results of consumption and
distribution showed how much too low the
originals were They required an addition
of 3S per cent. to the area and 80 per cent.
to the product. An example of this ten
dency, which would be appreciated, was to
be found in ths fact that the Auditor of
Kentucky published the sworn returns of
the assessors for 1879 making an aggregate
of l09, $50, 426 pounds as the product OF the
State. The enumerators found III 100 7S4
pounds, and the commercial movement
verified the result. 1t therefore required an
addition of So per cent to the State returns
to make the census aggregate. If the State
authorities failed to make full returns by 81
per cent, and all previous returns had boon
defective, on what authority was his right
denied to make any allowance in revision,
such as proved to be necessary.
EXPLAINING HIS METHODS.
Mr.. Dodge then explained his method of
reaching his conclusions, and said the esti-
mates under discussion were made in ac-
cordance with the usual custom, which had
proved reliable, and which agreed substan-
TALLY with all the State officials with one
exception, and with regard to that State less
than two-thirds of the former tobacco crops
had been officially reported Indeed letter
from the Auditor Of Kentucky fairly ac-
knOwledged the proverbial deficiency of the
State returns when he says: They are not
gathered with cure and are greatly under
the TRUTH The original corrected averages
of percentage of last years area, as reported
by the county correspondents, was not
quite so high as reported by the de
partment or by the State officials.
but il was nearly twice as much as the area
now claimed by the committee TO the area
growing. Some of the State eturns were
so abnormally low as TO suggest the presence
Of panic 90 an unusual degree, requ ring
allowances such as every State aud national
authority in statistical collection had found
TO be necessary.
DISPUTE AS TO MEANING.
Mr. Dodge here referred 30 reports from
showing greatly reduced acreage by reason
OF the drought.
The committee stoutly maintained that
there was n confusion OF acreage with prod
uct, that acreage meant simply and always
the area originally devoted by the farmer
TO tobacco, and that that area could never
and under no consideration be subsequently,
reported as less i'm extent whatever might
be the influence which prevailed to lessen
the product.
Commissioner Coleman, in reply 10 this,
read an editorial assertion from the Louis
VILE Home .jOugnni TO the effect that in
veStigaton showed q largely decreased
acreage on account Of the drought.
To this Mr.. Glover retorted, first, that